Me - a bookworm? /english essay #4/

I admit that I like reading. When you're really bored and there's absolutely nothing to do, a good book can entertain you for hours. The books that I like are mostly by foreign authors, there are only a few Finnish author whose books I read.

My favourite authors are Erlend Loe, Sujata Massey and Paulo Coelho. Erlend Loe's books are funny and I often find myself laughing out loud while reading his hilarious books. From Sujata Massey I only read her series of mystery novels. The most impressive book I've ever read is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It's a book that makes you wonder about everything and with all it's fascinating features, it's quite an impressive book and I recommend everyone to read it.

If there's a movie based on some book, I usually read the book first because as it's known, a book is always better than a movie. But there's always this lazy way to go, sometimes I just watch the movie without reading the book but that's when I don't even know there's a book about the movie. It's pointless to read the book after seeing the movie. That's the reason why I don't read Harry Potters, it's much easier to just watch the movies.

Mus!c - food 4 my soul /english essay #3/

Music is a big part of my life. If there wasn't music in my life, I probably wouldn't be able to take the world as it is. There would be a lot of things that will annoy me, even small things, because I don't have music which would lead me away from those agonizing things.

I listen to all kinds of music, which means I really listen to all kinds of genres, pop, rock, punk, rap, music in Finnish, English and even in some other foreign languages. There is one exception: I don't like heavy metal, especially hardcore heavy metal. I think it's annoying and it sounds terrible, in fact I don't think it's music at all. But I'm not that loyal to music. There are some times when I might listen to some hardcore music that will rip your ears off, although very seldom. I'm not very loyal to one specific band either, there can be only one song I like from one band but I hate the band's other songs.

Unfortunately I don't play any instruments, because it would be so cool if I played a piano or violin and I'd be good at it. Some might think it's kind of weird, but I actually think that classical music is interesting and it sounds pretty good if it's played well. I guess you could say my music taste is very wide and it changes every now and then.

My dream journey /english essay #2/

A place where I'd like to go if I only had money, would be Ireland. An island just above Great Britain is a perfect place for me to spend my vacation and why not also my everyday life. Ireland is in a great location, though some people might think it's not, because it's not even in the south and it's not that warm there. But that's the reason why it's a good place, it's not sweaty hot or annoyingly sunny all the time. You don't have to change your sweaty clothes all the time or drink many liters of water to prevent fainting in mind-numbing heat when all you have to do is sit in the fields and watch sheeps. Ireland's landscapes and old buildings and villages are very beautiful and Irish accent is something really interesting and it sounds funny.

But what is the most interesting about Irish culture, is their drinking habits. As you can guess, wherever there is an open bar, there's a drunk, cheerfully singing Irish somewhere near. That is a harsh stereotype but usually in Ireland alcohol equals happy people and I'm surely going to experience that.

If you want to go to Ireland, you must be an adult or at least be with an adult, preferably with one you trust. Because if you aren't adult, you can't fully enjoy the gifts of Ireland, in this case the Irish drinking culture. But if you happen to be a minor, don't take your parents with you, because they surely won't let you enjoy your trip. You should be with an adult who can at least buy you some booze. That's the reason I would take my sister with me to take a trip to Ireland, but because I'm going to be an adult when I'm there anyway, I will take her with me because she's funny.

I'm not saying you have to be drunk to have fun in Ireland. If you want to stay sober, you can just walk around the streets of Dublin and buy stuff and go to the coffee houses and drink Irish coffee. That will do.

Ireland is a great place to go take a trip, because you're most likely going to have a lot of fun over there and it's close to Great Britain, which is another place where you should visit at least once in your life. Not for the booze, but for Queen Elizabeth II.

I hate sports /english essay/

I hate sports, because it takes too much time and you have to be very dedicated to it. People always say that when you do some sports, you'll feel much better. For me it doesn't matter if I do sports or not, I'm not going to feel any better. And when I'm talking about sports, I'm talking about ice-hockey, baseball, football, basketball etc., generally sports where you have to keep going while holding a ball or shoot a puck or something as disturbing as that. You have to concentrate on so many different things, which is quite exhausting for me, because sports is something you do voluntarily, not by force. Sports is supposed to be a lot of fun, but when it turns into a competition, it's really annoying and no one's having fun then.

Of all the sports in world, I hate skiing the most. It's a really stupid sport, because you do it in winter when it's freezing and blowing all the time. When you go skiing, you might be waiting to experience how much fun it is and how freshing it is but when your face is frozen and your legs are numb, you're going to hate that sport forever unless you're either stupid or you just like to tortune yourself.

I strongly protest against PE as a mandatory school subject, especially in high school, because some people, such like me, aren't really that athletic and simply detest sport which is done by force. I think it's wrong that you don't pass high school if you have not participate in PE, after all it's a subject that doesn't help in the future if you're not interested in sports anyway.

Sports is something you should do voluntarily, because then it might be a lot more fun and you won't get annoyed. That's the reason why I do sports very seldom, I won't get annoyed and I keep myself happy and when I decide to do some sports, I have a really good reason.

Luonnonhelmassa, yksin ja silti kaiken keskellä

Norjalaisen Erlend Loen romaani Doppler (2004) kertoo miehestä, joka on kyllästynyt ihmisiin, heidän tapoihinsa ja toimintaansa. Ja niin hän pakenee metsään lähelle kaupunkia, tappaa hirven, vaihtaa tämän lihan rasvattomaan maitoon ja adoptoi tämän vasan, josta tulee hänen paras ystävänsä. Norjalainen sielunmaailma ilmenee teoksessa lähinnä luonnonläheisyytenä sekä oman maan kunnioittamisena, vaikka teosta siivittää enemmänkin yksittäisen henkilön eriskummallinen ajatusmalli yhteiskunnasta ja ihmisistä.

"En kuitenkaan keksi, mikä voisi saada minut palaamaan. Metsässä minä en joudu kärsimään muista ihmisistä eivätkä he joudu kärsimään minusta. Muut säästyvät minun sarkasmiltani ja ihmisvihaltani, ja minä säästyn muiden fiksuudelta ja typeryydeltä. Minusta systeemi toimii hyvin."

Päähenkilö Doppler näkee ihmiset rasittavina ja ärsyttävinä olentoina, joihin nyky-yhteiskunnan ahneus ja riittämättömyys ovat vaikuttaneet. Kuitenkin Doppler tapaa ihmisiä, jotka ovat vähemmän ärsyttäviä ja joista hän löytää myös yhteisiä piirteitä oman itsensä kanssa. Toisaalta teos saa ihmiset ärsyyntymään liiasta ihmisvihasta mutta taas toisaalta se antaa kasvot sille tosiasialle, etteivät kaikki tule toimeen kaikkien kanssa. 

"Asioiden tekeminen on muuttunut paljon vaikeammaksi, ja mitään tekemättömyys on muuttunut mahdottomaksi. Vaatii munaa olla tekemättä mitään kun ihmisiä notkuu ympärillä. Yhtäkkiä minun täytyy selitellä tekemisiäni. Minun täytyy ottaa kantaa jonkun toisen toiveisiin. Minun täytyy selittää, että en halua vieraita. Minun täytyy selittää, että en pidä hänestä ja että näkisin mieluimmin hänen muuttavan takaisin kotiin. Se käy voimille. Tässä huomaa selkeästi, kuinka paljon helpompaa on olla selittämättä mitään, sanomatta mitään, ja puuhailla vain omiaan."

Dopplerin viha metsään ängennyttä oikeistolaismiestä kohtaan kuvastaa ihmisen perimmäistä rehellisyyden tosiasiaa; ihmiset ovat itsekkäitä olentoja, eivätkä kaipaa ärsyttäviä ihmisiä ympärilleen, jolloin heidän ei tarvitse olla jotakin muuta kuin omia itseään. 

Se, että Dopplerilla oli ura, kertoo siitä, että jossain vaiheessa ihminen oivaltaa kaiken sen typeryyden mitä yhteiskunta saa ihmisissä aikaan. Entisajan normit ja arvot unohtuvat ja pian kaikki mitataan rahassa. Teoksen teema kuvastaa myös selkeästi itse kirjailijan ajatuksia, mutta niitä ei kirjan viihdyttävyyden takia pidä ottaa faktoina. Kaiken sen ironian ja sarkasmin avulla Erlend Loe saa lukijat koukkuun ja haalimaan lisää.